Chapter 18: Chapter 18 Tofu(2)_1 Chapter 18: Chapter 18 Tofu(2)_1 So she dutifully followed Lin Ziyin into the kitchen.
Making brine is a technical task. Ancient salt had impurities, making it both bitter and salty. Lin Ziyin started by removing the impurities, and only then made the brine. The whole process nearly drove Lin Zige crazy; she couldn’t understand why Lin Ziyin spent an entire afternoon grappling with salt.
Sacrificing so much firewood for nothing.
But the words of reproach Lin Zige had in mind couldn’t come out.
Time flew by amidst their busyness, and by the time Lin Changshu and the others returned, the brine was already prepared.
Lin Zige seized the opportunity to secretly tell Lin Changshu about Lin Ziyin’s unusual behavior that afternoon.
“It’s just a waste of a bit of firewood, let her be.” Ever since Lin Ziyin injured her head in the mountain, Lin Changshu felt guilty towards her. Guo Huiniang also shared this guilt. Therefore, they indulged Lin Ziyin’s requests.
The mentality of the elder brother and sister-in-law was deeply rooted in this couple.
The dinner was still unchanged: millet pancakes and bean paste, which made Lin Ziyin feel uncomfortable.
“Brother, you need to get up early tomorrow, can you get up in the middle of the night to help me grind the beans?” Lin Ziyin asked awkwardly after putting down her bowl.
She knew that Lin Changshu had been busy in the fields all day and must be exhausted. Her request was a bit inconsiderate.
But her body was still very weak, and grinding was a labor-intensive task, which she couldn’t handle at the moment.
“Alright,” Lin Changshu answered quite willingly.
“Grandfather, you don’t need to fetch firewood tomorrow morning. I’d like to go with you to the temple.” Lin Ziyin added.
“Then I’ll fetch firewood early. In the afternoon, you can come with me to the temple,” the old grandfather answered tiredly.
“No, I need to go in the morning.” Lin Ziyin insisted.
“Alright then.” The old man glanced at her forehead, “By the way, let’s have the master take another look at you.”
“Sister, I want to go too.” Lin Changting interjected.
“I’m going too.” Lin Yanzhi chimed in.
“Both of you kids stay at home.” Lin Changshu, as the head of the household, spoke up.
Then neither of the young ones said anything more.
“Don’t worry, when I come back, I’ll buy you something to eat,” Lin Ziyin said with a smile.
On hearing this, Lin Yanzhi perked up, while the others dismissed Lin Ziyin’s promise as mere child’s play. After all, there was no spare money at home.
“Sister, you have to call me in the middle of the night. You’ll have to get up and help me. We cannot delay.” Lin Ziyin said with her eyes closed.
“Okay,” Lin Zige responded, looking at the sleeping figures in the darkness.
Ever since her sister hit her head, her character and the way she did things had changed a lot. Was this a good thing or a bad thing?
With her mind preoccupied, Lin Ziyin woke up quite early as expected.
“Sister, it’s time to get up.” She nudged Lin Zige beside her. Thus, Lin Zige got up in a daze.
When Lin Ziyin was done with her simple wash and went to the kitchen, she found that her elder brother and sister-in-law had already ground the beans into soy milk.
“Thank you, brother,” Lin Ziyin said, smiling. Then she called to Lin Zige, “Sister, start the fire. Oh, and sister-in-law, you come over and keep an eye on it. Don’t let it stick to the pot.”
Guo Huiniang promptly agreed, and Lin Ziyin started squeezing the soy milk through a cloth bag, leaving Lin Changshu to take over her task once he saw what she was doing.
Lin Ziyin heaved a sigh of relief. Her body was not strong enough, but Lin Changshu, accustomed to working in fields, had the strength. His might even resulted in more soy milk being extracted.
Making tofu in ancient times relied on manual labor, without any modern equipment. During the cooking process, soy milk was prone to sticking to the bottom of the pot, resulting in a burnt taste in the final tofu that made it inedible. Therefore, the process of making tofu was very busy, and nothing could be taken lightly.
“This step is called ‘pointing slurry’, and it’s crucial. If you add too much, the tofu will be old and have an off-taste when eaten. If too little, the texture of the tofu will not be good, and it might not even set properly.” Lin Ziyin did not plan on forever doing this work, so she began to instruct Guo Huiniang step-by-step.
Guo Huiniang and Lin Zige were astonished by the series of changes that the soy milk went through. Even Lin Changshu was observing the process with a serious face.